Cowboy Bebop (1998; anime)
a.k.a Kaubôi Bibappu
Director: Shinichirō Watanabe
Plot Synopsis[]
The futuristic misadventures and tragedies of an easygoing bounty hunter (Kôichi Yamadera/Steven Jay Blum) and his partners.
Male Deaths[]
- Robert Axelrod [Doctor Londes] (English Dub)
- Kirk Baily [Shin] (English Dub)
- Steven Jay Blum [Spike Spiegel] (English Dub) (Presumably)
- Richard Cansino [Carlos] (English Dub)
- Paul Carr [Pao Pu-Zi] (English Dub)
- Katsumi Chou [The El Ray Bartender] (Japanese Voice)
- Dana Craig [Mao Yenrai] (English Dub)
- Michael Deak [Ruth] (English Dub)
- Gary Dubin [George] (English Dub)
- Tom Fahn [Roco Bonnaro] (English Dub)
- Eddie Frierson [Red Dragon Thug] (English Dub)
- Banjō Ginga [Tongpu/Mad Pierrot] (Japanese Voice)
- Jack Hammer [The El Ray Bartender] (English Dub)
- Masashi Hirose [Fad] (Japanese Voice)
- Kosei Hirota [Udai Taxim] (Japanese Voice)
- Nobuyuki Hiyama [Shin] (Japanese Voice)
- Kenyu Horiuchi [Gren] (Japanese Voice)
- Kōji Ishii [Ruth] (Japanese Voice)
- Kazuaki Ito [Mao Yenrai] (Japanese Dub)
- Christopher Joyce [Tucan] (English Dub)
- Doug Lee [Fad] (English Dub)
- Michael Lindsay [Decker] (English Dub)
- Michael McCarty [Chessmaster Hex] (English Dub)
- Hikaru Midorikawa [Lin] (Japanese Voice)
- Shin-ichiro Miki [Herman] (Japanese Voice)
- Yuji Mikimoto [Prison Ship Pilot] (Japanese Voice)
- Hiroshi Naka [Ping Long] (Japanese Voice)
- Takashi Nakagi [Giraffe] (Japanese Voice)
- Ryusei Nakao [Roco Bonnaro] (Japanese Voice)
- Kazuhiro Nakata [Morgan] (Japanese Voice)
- Takashi Nagasako [George] (Japanese Voice)
- Rintarō Nishi [Asimov Solensan] (Japanese Voice)
- Daran Norris [Morgan] (English Dub)
- Shinji Ogawa [Gordon] (Japanese Voice)
- Tamio Ooki [Pao Pu-Zi] (Japanese Voice)
- Chikao Ootsuka [Doctor Londes] (Japanese Voice)
- Hitoshi Oya [Tucan] (Japanese Voice)
- Jamieson Price [Gordon] (English Dub)
- Derek Stephen Prince [Lin] (English Dub)
- Mike Reynolds [Sou Long] (English Dub)
- Toshi Sasaki [Elroy] (Japanese Voice)
- Kevin Seymour [Tongpu/Mad Pierrot] (English Dub)
- Bryan Cranston [Prison Ship Pilot] (English Dub)
- Hiroshi Shimaka [Dig] (Japanese Voice)
- Skip Stellrecht [Vicious] (English Dub)
- Barry Stigler [Udai Taxim] (English Dub)
- Michael Sorich [Giraffe] (English Dub)
- Eiichiro Suzuki [Nero] (Japanese Voice)
- Steve Kramer [Dig] (English Dub)
- Takashi Taguchi [Wang Long] (Japanese Voice)
- David A. Thomas [Gren] (English Dub)
- Kirk Thornton [Asimov Solensan] (English Dub)
- Bill Timoney [Herman] (English Dub)
- Shinpachi Tsuji [Sou Long] (Japanese Voice)
- Norio Wakamoto [Vicious] (Japanese Voice)
- Takeshi Watabe [Chessmaster Hex] (Japanese Voice)
- Kôichi Yamadera [Spike Spiegel] (Japanese Voice) (Presumably)
- John DeMita [Elroy] (English Dub)
- Jonathan Cook [Nero] (English Dub)
Female Deaths[]
- Mari Arita [Maria "Twinkle" Murdock] (Japanese Voice)
- Yurika Hino [Katerina Solensan] (Japanese Voice)
- Miyuki Ichijo [Annie] (Japanese Voice)
- Mona Marshall [Wen] (English Dub)
- Mary Elizabeth McGlynn [Maria "Twinkle" Murdock & Julia] (English Dub)
- Katia Morales [Katerina Solensan] (English Dub)
- Carol Stanzione [Annie] (English Dub)
- Gara Takashima [Julia] (Japanese Voice)
- Yumi Touma [Wen] (Japanese Voice)
Trivia[]
- The city of Faye's memories is recognizably Singapore.
- Almost every episode title refers to a song title, or genre/type of music. Song/Album Titles: - Session #1: Asteroid Blues = The Blues - Session #2: Stray Dog Strut = "Stray Cat Strut" by the Stray Cats - Session #3: Honky Tonk Women = "Honky Tonk Women" by the Rolling Stones - Session #4: Gateway Shuffle = Shuffle - Session #5: Ballad of Fallen Angels = "Fallen Angel" by King Crimson - Session #6: Sympathy for the Devil = "Sympathy for the Devil" by the Rolling Stones - Session #7: Heavy Metal Queen = "Heavy Metal Queen"- Mountain - Session #8: Waltz for Venus: Waltz - Session #9: Jamming with Edward = Album Title: Rolling Stones - Jamming with Edward (1972) - Session #10: Ganymede Elegy: Elegy - Session #11: Toys in the Attic = "Toys in the Attic" by Aerosmith s - Session #12 & 13: Jupiter Jazz Pt.1 & 2 = Jazz - Session #14: Bohemian Rhapsody = "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen - Session #15: My Funny Valentine = "My Funny Valentine" by Frank Sinatra - Session #16: Black Dog Serenade = "Black Dog" by Led Zeppelin - Session #17: Mushroom Samba = Samba - Session #18: Speak like a Child = "Speak like a Child" by Herbie Hancock - Session #19: Wild Horses = "Wild Horses" by the Rolling Stones - Session #21: Boogie Woogie Feng Shui = Boogie Woogie - Session #22: Cowboy Funk = Funk - Session #24: Hard Luck Woman = "Hard Luck Woman" by KISS - Session #25 & 26: The Real Folk Blues Pt.1 & 2: "The Real Folk Blues" by John Lee Hooker.
- The fight on the bridge between Spike and Abdul Hakim in Episode 2, "Stray Dog Strut," is a homage to the fight scene in Game of Death (1978) between Bruce Lee and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. All of Spike's fights feature the use Bruce Lee's "Jeet Kune Do" style of fighting.
- Spike is frequently shown cigarettes with stems bent upwards or downwards. This is a subtle reference to jazz pioneer Dizzy Gillespie, one of the founders of bebop, whose trademark was a trumpet with the bell slanted.
- Character designer for the series, Kawamoto Toshihiro, stated that the most challenging character to design was Gren, as Gren was originally modeled after Brad Pitt, but Kawamoto had trouble picturing "Brad Pitt with breasts."
- Almost every multi-language street sign shown in the series are in English, Japanese, Persian and Russian.
- A poster of Bruce Lee can be seen in front of the doctor's office in "The Real Folk Blues". Spike practices Jeet Kun Do, the same martial arts style Bruce Lee pioneered.
- Alfredo, the man who approaches his ailing mother at the airport in "The Real Folk Blues", is Punch from Big Shots.
- In addition to Lupin III being a heavy influence, the main characters from both series resemble one another in appearance and personality. Spike/Lupin both wear ties, are lanky, and laid back. Jet/Jigen are the partners, both have beards, and are the more pragmatic members of their groups. Faye/Fujiko take advantage of their appearance to get what they want and has betrayed their groups. Vicious with his swordsman abilities represents Goemon.
- Spike and Vicious exchange weapons as an homage to a fatal quick-draw in the John Woo film A Better Tomorrow 2 (A Better Tomorrow II (1987)).
- This show aired on the Japanese satellite channel WOWOW. Although the episodes aired at midnight, it was still hugely popular.
- Originally, Ed's character was based on a description of the series' music director ("a little weird, cat-like, but a genius at creating music") and was going to be a dark-skinned boy. Edward was turned into a girl to even the gender ratio on the Bebop, which was, with Ed as a boy, three guys, and one girl.
- Jet Black was named after the drummer with the British punk band 'The Stranglers'.
- In Session 26, Jet mentions a story about a dying man with a wounded leg near Mount Kilimanjaro. This is a reference to Ernest Hemingway's short story "The Snows of Kilimanjaro". Jet will mention afterward how before people die, they try to remember their lives to find evidence they've lived; this is the main theme of the real-life story, which is told through the dying man's flashbacks.
- Cowboy Bebop (1998) was largely inspired by the cult-classic anime/manga franchise Lupin III.
- Ein the data dog is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi.
- Six episodes have received a TV-MA rating but were never aired on Adult Swim without being edited to receive a TV-14 rating.
- The official lyrics at the beginning of the opening theme (as noted in the bonus feature "Session 0") are: "I think it's time to blow this scene; get everybody and their stuff together. Okay, 3, 2, 1, let's jam."
- Faye's handgun is a Glock 30 .45.
- Spike regularly uses an IWI Jericho 941 pistol. It is the same pistol seen firing in the opening title sequence.
- The handgun Jet Black uses throughout the series is a Walther P99.
- Spike's bent cigarettes are an homage to Jigen from Lupin III.
- Although Shinichiro Watanabe claims it was a coincidence, Spike Spiegel may be named after music video director-turned-filmmaker Spike Jonze, whose surname is Spiegel.
- Two bartenders have been shot unexpectedly throughout the series: one in "Asteroid Blues" and the other in "The Real Folk Blues".